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Livestream Livepack: a 'satellite television truck in a backpack'

by Darren Murph posted Sep 30th 2009 @ 5:44PM

"Game changing" is thrown around way too frequently these days, but man, this thing just might be. The Livepack is being described as "a satellite television truck in a backpack" by creator Livestream, and for all intents and purposes, it is. Put simply (or as simply as possible), the pack includes everything one would need to stream "HD quality" footage: encoding hardware, a Firewire cable and the real kicker, a built-in wireless connection with six load-balanced 3G modems over three carriers (AT&T, Verizon Wireless and Sprint if you have to know). Users simply provide their own camcorder, mash a button when it's show time, and out goes the signal. The Livepack can currently be rented for $2,500 per month (includes 30 hours of streaming) or $1,500 per month if you commit to a year-long agreement. So, who's up for showing the world their high school prom live in HD? Demo vid is after the break.

[Via Red Ferret]

Continue reading Livestream Livepack: a 'satellite television truck in a backpack'

mSpot brings new release movie streaming to major US carriers

by Darren Murph posted Sep 30th 2009 @ 11:34AM

mSpot has been streaming full-length movies to cellphones for a few years now, but not until this week has the company had a potential customer base of 40 million. As of right now, mobile phone users on Sprint, AT&T, Verizon Wireless and T-Mobile (yes, that includes the G1, Pre, iPhone and every other smartphone with a half-decent browser) can surf over to m.mspot.com in order to stream major motion pictures, and being that the service is on-demand, you can also pause and restart 'em whenever you darn well please. Deals have been inked with Paramount Studios, Universal Pictures and the Weinstein Company, and we're told that more agreements are in the works. Movie rentals will cost $4.99 per title, and can be viewed from 24 hours to 5 days after they're rented. Naturally, mSpot recommends paying for an "unlimited" data plan, and if you're smart, you won't utilize the service whilst traveling abroad.

Rhapsody App approved by Apple: 8 million tracks streaming to the ether (update: video!)

by Thomas Ricker posted Sep 10th 2009 @ 1:31AM

We had a feeling this day was coming. After Spotify's subscription music app was approved, offline listening intact, there was every indication that Rhapsody was next for christening. Especially with the feds watching Apple's every move. The free download just went hot and requires a $15 per month Rhapsody To Go subscription -- you can try it for free for a week -- and streams 64kbps quality (ugh) music over WiFi or cellular data (only, no off-line access) from a catalog of about 8 million tracks offered by the MTV and RealNetwork tie-up. Now go 'n get it.

Update: Added video demo after the break.

[Via Komo News, thanks Bill Y.]

Read -- Rhapsody App [iTunes link]

Continue reading Rhapsody App approved by Apple: 8 million tracks streaming to the ether (update: video!)

Spotify launches on iTunes App Store and Android Market, premium members only

by Thomas Ricker posted Sep 7th 2009 @ 5:13AM

As expected, Apple has blessed Spotify's streaming subscription music application with a home in its iTunes App Store. Additionally, the app is also making a first, less ballyhooed appearance on the Android Market. The free app allows you to stream any of its nearly 4 million tracks over WiFi or 3G and syncs playlists for playback while disconnected. It's available exclusively to Spotify Premium members in the UK, Sweden, Spain, France and Norway -- only the iPhone app is available in Finland. Great, so does that mean Rhapsody is next? Magic i-ball says all signs point to yes. Video overview of each app after the break.

P.S. We're seeing reports that the iPhone app won't play music in the background. The fix? Android.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Read -- Spotify on Android
Read -- Spotify on App Store

Continue reading Spotify launches on iTunes App Store and Android Market, premium members only

Spotify for iPhone gets thumbs up from Apple, subscription music with offline playlists is a go

by Ross Miller posted Aug 27th 2009 @ 5:31PM

Streaming and subscription music services are a dime a dozen on iPhone, and they seem to get past Apple's app store approval hurdles with relative ease. But Spotify was one whose fate wasn't so clear cut, given its offline playlist function -- which as the name suggests downloads songs ahead of time for you to listen to when there's no WiFi or phone service to stream from -- could very easily fall into the category of "duplication of core iPhone functionality" and get deep-sixed at the drop of a hat. Turns out that's not the case here, as an Apple spokesperson has told paidContent UK that the app's been given the metaphorical stamp of approval and would be hitting the store "very soon." A premium subscription will run about £9.99 ($16.20) per month, with an option to pay annually coming at a later date. Of course, there's a catch, as Spotify's service is only available in Sweden, Norway, Finland, the UK, France and Spain for now. The company expects to invade America sometime later this year, but that means another round of app store approvals -- and with Apple's track record on consistency, there's no telling how that'll turn out.

Qik for iPhone 3GS now available, still not capable of live 3G streaming

by Darren Murph posted Aug 14th 2009 @ 2:41AM

So, there's good news and bad news. The good news is that Qik for iPhone 3GS is now available, and it's completely gratis to download. The bad news is that it probably won't do exactly what you want it to. You see, those on Symbian S60 have grown used to a Qik that can actually stream live video to the internet, whereas this app is currently just a "capture and upload" piece. Moreover, it only works via WiFi, so if you're not near a hotspot once your video is done, you'll have to wait until you wander back over to one before it automatically begins uploading. Though, you can let the app automatically inform viewers of where the video was taken (in case you feel like pampering guests who show up unannounced), and you can also frame the video horizontally or vertically. The Qik team assures us that an update is in the works to add 3G uploading, but for now, it's WiFi or bust. Which is kosher so long as it's free... we guess.

[Thanks, Jackie]

Hulu still silent on PS3, Windows Mobile blocking - but there's a free solution

by Richard Lawler posted Jul 1st 2009 @ 6:08PM

A few days after blocking PlayStation 3 users, Hulu has yet to respond to questions concerning the change which has only helped to fuel rumors it is related to the Microsoft ad campaign currently featured on the site, but that seems less likely now that we've confirmed it also began blocking the Flash-enabled Skyfire browser on Windows Mobile devices at the same time. Whatever the cause is, if you prefer a homegrown hack over something like PlayOn or TVersity, Eric over at ypass.net has put together a simple enough walkthrough for creating an "unblockable" workaround by setting up a locally connected PC running Linux or Windows with the freely available Squid proxy server software that will make your PS3 look like appear as a PC running a Firefox (or whatever you prefer) browser to any website that asks. Of course, just like the other solutions your computer will need to stay running to keep you connected, but we figure it's a small price to pay for enjoying relatively low res Flash video running on an HDTV.

Read - Got a PS3? Want Hulu Back? Easy enough...
Read - Squid-setup for Windows NT /2k /X

AT&T's "new" video streaming terms are a non-issue

by Chris Ziegler posted Apr 29th 2009 @ 7:41PM

There's an awful lot of hubbub going around today about "new" terms in AT&T's wireless contract agreement that seemingly forbid streaming video from your television to your PC or your phone -- in other words, using a Slingbox -- which would seem to be a rewrite of language added and pulled a few weeks ago. Here's the problem: the terms aren't new, and they don't forbid video streaming. One of our editors has a month-old hard copy of AT&T's terms that were mailed to him after agreeing to a new contract, and they're exactly the same -- word for word.

Furthermore, the language in question is this: "This means, by way of example only, that checking email, surfing the Internet, downloading legally acquired songs, and/or visiting corporate intranets is permitted, but downloading movies using P2P file sharing services, redirecting television signals for viewing on Personal Computers..." but the problem is that the examples given here are referring to earlier language. In that language, we see that AT&T is more concerned about "server devices or host computer applications" -- that's subsection (i), if you're interested. In other words, AT&T's trying to stop you from uploading a television stream using its connection, not downloading -- and frankly, that sounds like the most painful operation ever conceived by man anyway, so we don't think we're going to get too many violators here.

In other words, rest easy; we still don't know whether the now-overdue SlingPlayer for iPhone will ultimately be approved, but if it's not, it shouldn't be because of this.

[Thanks, Mike and Tieguy]

Sirius XM developing iPhone / iPod touch streaming radio app

by Darren Murph posted Mar 12th 2009 @ 1:26PM

My, my -- now isn't this something? Shortly after narrowly avoiding a dastardly collision with bankruptcy, Sirius XM is looking to connect itself with profitable enterprises in an attempt to build market share and regain interest from budget-conscience consumers. Just weeks after hearing that the sat radio company could be preparing a few Sirius / DirecTV bundles, CFO David Frear has now confirmed on a recent earnings call that the outfit is indeed developing an iPhone / iPod touch app. It's interesting to think that a satellite radio firm could be warming to delivering more content via the internet, but it's the apparent diversion from being a standalone offering that has us even more intrigued. It should be interesting to see how the pricing model works with this forthcoming app -- will users be able to get an iPhone subscription only? Will it be tossed in gratis with traditional subscriptions? So many questions, not enough patience.

[Image courtesy of SiriusBuzz]

Buffalo's Web Access hands-on: remote access from your iPhone

by Jacob Schulman posted Jan 8th 2009 @ 1:16PM

16 gigs ain't enough space for all those episodes of The Hills on your iPhone? Well, if you've got a Buffalo NAS such as the LinkStation Mini or Pro, you can now access all your files remotely on your OS X mobile device through an optimized web page straight from your device. The really nifty part is that you can stream MPEGs over 3G (and presumably EDGE, though we don't know why you'd want to) -- although it took around 60 seconds to buffer a TV show episode in the demo we got. The Buffalo rep we spoke with informed us that an actual app would be available in the App Store sometime this quarter, but if you're itching to catch up with LC and the gang, be sure to check out any one of the aforementioned devices that support the service and you could be streaming pronto.

Gallery: Buffalo's Web Access hands-on: remote access from your iPhone

Orb 2.0 streams live TV to your iPhone

by Nilay Patel posted Nov 20th 2008 @ 3:14PM

We knew Orb was working on an iPhone port of its media-streaming app, and it looks like Orb 2.0 just stealthily went live in the App Store. The $10 app lets TV junkies watch live TV from a tuner connected to a Windows PC, as well as stream music, videos, and photos from their libraries. Even cooler, Orb allows you to monitor a webcam, so you can finally nail those Diet Coke thieves from the comfort of your cube (or keep an eye on your infant, whatever.) Sadly there's no date for the Mac and Linux versions, but Orb says they're on the way. Alright Sling, looks like the ball's in your court.

[Via jkOnTheRun]

Qik video streaming service now ready for J2ME phones

by Darren Murph posted Oct 23rd 2008 @ 6:36PM

There's a decent chance you completely forgot about Qik, a nifty little startup that enables live audio / video streaming from feature phones to PCs, after hearing absolutely nothing from it since July. If so, it's all good -- the folks at Qik still want you to indulge in its first public alpha release for a slew of J2ME phones. For users with a Nokia 5300, 6300, 6500 classic, 6500 slide, 6555 or 8800 Arte, you can join your brethren with a Sony Ericsson K850, K858, W890, W910, W908, K660, G502 or Z750 in streaming live content right from your phone to your lovely posse. Give it a go and let us know how it turns out, will you?

DoCoMo serves your DLNA content to a friend's TV via mobile phone

by Samuel Axon posted Oct 10th 2008 @ 4:49PM

Eager to live in the fantastical future it has prophesied, NTT DoCoMo went to CEATEC and demoed an upcoming addition to its Pocket U service: MH2H (Mobile Home to Home), which gives you the ability use your cellphone to stream content from your computer at home to a friend's TV. The phone connects to your friend's WiFi network and sends his or her DLNA-compliant receiver the IP address of your also-DLNA-compliant server, then tells said server to accept the connection and start streaming any videos, songs, or photos you feel like sharing. When you leave, the connection ends and every one goes back to partying on their own isolated media islands like it's 2006.

[Image courtesy of Tech-On!]

Apple working on streaming your iTunes library to your iPhone?

by Nilay Patel posted Aug 7th 2008 @ 6:36PM

Apple's experimented with allowing iTunes to stream over the internet as well as your LAN in the past and quickly removed the feature (probably due to RIAA pressure), so we're not placing too much stock in this, but AppleInsider's unearthed a patent that seems to describe a way to stream music over the 'net to your iPhone / iPod touch. The goal is to prevent you from having to selectively sync content to your device -- instead, you'd sync just the metadata and stream whatever you wanted direct from your machine as though it was all stored locally. There are some obvious problems here -- it wouldn't work if you didn't have service (or over EDGE, really), most home upstream connections aren't that fast, etc., etc., -- but it's certainly interesting, and a welcome addition to local storage if it ever makes the scene. In the meantime, how about working in some of those new UI elements from the Remote app into the iPod app?

[Via Macrumors, thanks Mark]

Qik moves to open beta

by Chris Ziegler posted Jul 22nd 2008 @ 10:01AM

You no longer need to know someone who knows someone who knows the founder of a VC firm sinking money into Qik to get in on its rather lovely streaming video action. We're just messing around, of course -- it was never quite that hard to get into Qik's invite-only alpha / beta before in our experience -- but it just got even easier with the popular service moving into an open beta phase. Offering both S60 and Windows Mobile clients (with iPhone allegedly on the way), Qik does a pretty stellar and unique job of streaming live audio and video straight from your handset to your millions of adoring fans glued to their computer monitors around the world (or just your mommy and daddy, as the case may be). So go sign up, paste your username down below here if you're so inclined, and just be sure you're not recording when you... ahem, don't mean to be. If you catch our drift.

[Via All About Symbian]